May 9th, 2007

It amazes me that people are still surprised when these things happen to certain promoters. Venue changes. Cancellations. Alternative Headline Acts. Alternative Line Ups.

Anyway, in short Elektrofest 2007 has been chancelled due to "venue problems". And people wonder why I refuse to buy tickets for these events before pretty much the actual day. It's called once burnt, twice shy.

This Is EnglandWent and saw This Is England with Rosie this afternoon. We both had the day off and fancied catching a film.

This Is England is set in a (Yorkshire?) town/city in 1983. Thatcher is in power, we are at war in the Falklands and a proportion of dissatisfied youth is toying with fascism.

The film centers on a 12-year old (Sean) whose father has recently been killed in the Falklands conflict and who is being bullied at school. He falls in with a group of skinheads (ranging from about 15 to early 20's and also a mix of races) who take him under their wing and make him feel part of something.

The problems begin when Combo, an old friend of group leader Woody, gets out of jail and joins up with the group. He's blatantly racist and usurps control over part of the group from Woody. Sean ends up falling in with Combo and his brainwashing.

The film is fairly dark and slow paced. Rosie compared it to a British American History X without as much violence, and I'd agree with that. The two films are certainly similiar (although imho American History X is the far superior film). There were some scenes that made me squirm (mainly due to Sean - as a 12 year old kid - forray into 'romance') and the acting wasn't fantastic in places, but overall it was a very good film.

I was the same age of the lead character at the time the film was set and whilst our living environments were vastly different I can certainly remember a lot of the social problems, and the threatened rise of the National Front, at the time.

It's certainly not a film for everyone. It's also a film that would suit the small screen as much, if not betterm than the big screen. School Report: B+

Spiderman 3I saw the third installment of Spidey with Rosie, Toos and Andy at the weekend. You pretty much know what you're going to get with the Spiderman franchise and the film doesn't disappoint. It had some really good moments which were countered by some pretty cringe-worthy moments. High points for me were more than one villian this time round and, er, well, let's just say it's a good family film for all ages and it does what you expect it to.

Although people seem to want the expected as Spiderman 3 became the biggest grossing film at the Box Office of all time for it's opening weekend!

Sony announced over the weekend that they've signed up for Spiderman 4, 5 & 6 although no news on what actors or crew will be working on the pictures. I don't know if the current team will stay or if we'll see some fresh faces.